AuthorTopic: Song Of The Week - I'll Follow The Sun (Read 4249 times)

nimrod

One day, you'll look To see I've gone But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun Some day, you'll know I was the one But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun And now the time has come And so, my love, I must go And though I lose a friend In the end you will know Oh-oh-oh One day, you'll find That I have gone But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun

And now the time has come And so, my love, I must go And though I lose a friend In the end you will know Oh-oh-oh One day, you'll find That I have gone But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun

"I'll Follow the Sun" is a song written and sung by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney

"I wrote that in my front parlour in Forthlin Road. I was about 16. I'll Follow The Sun was one of those very early ones. I seem to remember writing it just after I'd had the flu and I had that cigarette - I smoked when I was 16 - the cigarette that's the 'cotton wool' one. You don't smoke while you're ill but after you get better you have a cigarette and it's terrible, it tastes like cotton wool, horrible. I remember standing in the parlour, with my guitar, looking out through the lace curtains of the window, and writing that one."

Paul McCartney The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn

It was released in 1964 on the Beatles for Sale album in the United Kingdom and on Beatles '65 in the United States, but was written long before that year. A rough home recording of the song exists on bootleg, believed to date from spring 1960. Lasting 1'49", it was performed by McCartney, Lennon and Harrison on acoustic guitars, with Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, without the delicate arrangement of the final version.

The song's lyrics centre around a man who feels he is unappreciated by a woman. The song is believed to be him giving her an ultimatum, and that, as the lyrics state, "One day, you'll look to see I've gone." There is an unwillingness on the part of the song's narrator that adds a tenderness and tragedy to his leaving: "And now the time has come, and so, my love, I must go. And though I lose a friend, in the end you will know"..., as well as a reluctance on the man's ability to finalize the breakup, by the repeated phrase......"but tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun."

One reason they didn't use the song on their previous albums was because it wasn't tough enough for their leather-jacketed early image. By the time they did record it for their fourth lp, the rhythm had changed from a rockabilly shuffle to a gentle cha-cha. And Ringo Starr kept the beat by smacking his palms on his knees.

It's astonishing what came from the mind of sixteen year-old Paul McCartney. All those feelings put into a song less than two minutes long! Nothing more needed to be said for he explained it all.

A couple of times in the past, I pulled out my guitar and sang this song for a girl when the relationship was going nowhere. If in her eyes I saw nothing, then I knew that all my efforts were...well, were like pushing sh*t uphill with a pointy stick.

I love Paul and John's vocal harrmonies and George's short but elegant lead guitar break. This song fit the mood of Beatles For Sale so well.

This was one of the songs I remember hearing as a very young child. I've always enjoyed it. The simple lyrics, understated, but just right, instrumentation and John and Pauls harmonising all provide what gave so many early to mid Beatle songs their appeal.

While its pretty simple song as would befit a young chap in his early writing stages. There's enough interest in the chord progression amd melody to stop the song getting stale.

It seems to get underrated as it's on one of their least popular albums and accused of being grabbed due to lack of material. All I can say is I wish I had such stuff sitting round to plunder when short of new stuff.

I've always considered Beatles For Sale one of their finest early albums.

I think it gets a worse wrap then it deserves. Mainly for perhaps not the best chosen covers. But any album that boasts: No Reply, I'm a Loser, Every Little Thing, I'll Follow the Sun,Eight Days a Week, and Baby's in Black has a lot going for it from the start.

nimrod

I think it gets a worse wrap then it deserves. Mainly for perhaps not the best chosen covers. But any album that boasts: No Reply, I'm a Loser, Every Little Thing, I'll Follow the Sun,Eight Days a Week, and Baby's in Black has a lot going for it from the start.

Oh and I don't want to spoil the party is cool too.

Ive never understood the reason BFS gets bad scores, I remember my big brother buying it when it came out, played it to death, loved every song (except Mr Moonlight)I always think they could've chose Bad To Me or Leave My Kitten Alone instead, or even One After 909

Ive never understood the reason BFS gets bad scores, I remember my big brother buying it when it came out, played it to death, loved every song (except Mr Moonlight)I always think they could've chose Bad To Me or Leave My Kitten Alone instead, or even One After 909

or even In Spite of all the Danger

Maybe it was seen as a step back after the all original Hard Days Night. The covers are pulling them back to 1962 while the originals continue their development, making it an uneven selection.

In addition to Mr M, I've never really cared for Rock and Roll Music. Not sure why. It's an ok song. Sung and played well. Something about it just leaves me cold and I usually skip it. On the plus side Words of Love is a terrific cover. And Leave my Kitten Alone must surely rank as the most criminally discarded Beatles recording. Until Anthology of course.

It's interesting that as an early original, Ill Follow the Sun doesn't sound out of place next to more recent originals. Paul was very precocious at putting sophisticated twists into even relatively simple songs.

I've never cared for it myself. But reading Lewisohns book I note that the Beatles used to sometimes open with it. A fan describes how great the first acappella scream of "Mr Moonlight" was to open a show. Although part of it was wondering whether John would hit the right note without any instrumentation to guide him.

I can get how hearing John rip into that would be pretty cool. But I think a lot if their covers probably worked very well live. Sometimes less so on record.

nimrod

Maybe it was seen as a step back after the all original Hard Days Night. The covers are pulling them back to 1962 while the originals continue their development, making it an uneven selection.

In addition to Mr M, I've never really cared for Rock and Roll Music. Not sure why. It's an ok song. Sung and played well. Something about it just leaves me cold and I usually skip it. On the plus side Words of Love is a terrific cover. And Leave my Kitten Alone must surely rank as the most criminally discarded Beatles recording. Until Anthology of course.

It's interesting that as an early original, Ill Follow the Sun doesn't sound out of place next to more recent originals. Paul was very precocious at putting sophisticated twists into even relatively simple songs.

If Im honest I don't particularly like ANY of the covers on BFS, if someone advised them to put covers on there it was bad advice, they surely had enough home grown material, I agree with you in that it was seen as a step backwards from Hard Days Night, I mean the whole package, from an all original album to one with a few covers was retrograde , and yes maybe this explains the bad scores it receives from fans.What about an acoustic version of In Spite Of All The Danger with 3 part harmony, they had Bad To Me and World Without Love, 909, and a few others I just cant think of atm.

and Im sure J & P could've gone off for a cup of tea and come up with another in the time it took to record Mr Moonlight and Kansas City

If Im honest I don't particularly like ANY of the covers on BFS, if someone advised them to put covers on there it was bad advice, they surely had enough home grown material, I agree with you in that it was seen as a step backwards from Hard Days Night, I mean the whole package, from an all original album to one with a few covers was retrograde , and yes maybe this explains the bad scores it receives from fans.What about an acoustic version of In Spite Of All The Danger with 3 part harmony, they had Bad To Me and World Without Love, 909, and a few others I just cant think of atm.

and Im sure J & P could've gone off for a cup of tea and come up with another in the time it took to record Mr Moonlight and Kansas City

Looking at the sequence of recording (according to Pollack's site) they basically did nine originals in a row ( including the single I Feel Fine and the B side She's a Woman). All the covers plus the oldie I'll Follow the Sun were recorded pretty quickly at the end of the sessions. It'd taken two months of recording to get the first nine done. They finished off the remaining in a bit over a week. Does suggest the covers were thrown together pretty hurriedly. Which would make sense to get the album done for Xmas. I seem to recall that as a rationale from one of the books I'd read.

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nimrod

Looking at the sequence of recording (according to Pollack's site) they basically did nine originals in a row ( including the single I Feel Fine and the B side She's a Woman). All the covers plus the oldie I'll Follow the Sun were recorded pretty quickly at the end of the sessions. It'd taken two months of recording to get the first nine done. They finished off the remaining in a bit over a week. Does suggest the covers were thrown together pretty hurriedly. Which would make sense to get the album done for Xmas. I seem to recall that as a rationale from one of the books I'd read.

Its funny isn't it, they didn't put the singles on the albums so the fans in the UK got value (more) but now it seems the album would be held in higher esteem if I Feel Fine & She's A Woman were on it

They should've resisted the covers, it was like going back to With The Beatles and the covers denude how good the originals are.

Im A LoserEight Days A WeekFollow The SunNo ReplyEvery Little ThingBaby's In Black

Its funny isn't it, they didn't put the singles on the albums so the fans in the UK got value (more) but now it seems the album would be held in higher esteem if I Feel Fine & She's A Woman were on it

They should've resisted the covers, it was like going back to With The Beatles and the covers denude how good the originals are.

Im A LoserEight Days A WeekFollow The SunNo ReplyEvery Little ThingBaby's In Black

all top notch songs imo

I think so too. What You're Doing was the only fillerish one. Even that had some appeal.

I wonder if the not putting the singles on the album policy also helped maximise single sales. While there wouldn't have been a huge cohort happy to wait for the album to get any singles ( this was the mid sixties where singles were still king), knowing that if they wanted the singles they had no option but to buy them might have given those sales an extra edge. It does show their confidence in producing material though that they could sacrifice one or two top tunes and still deliver too notch albums.

I've never cared for it myself. But reading Lewisohns book I note that the Beatles used to sometimes open with it. A fan describes how great the first acappella scream of "Mr Moonlight" was to open a show. Although part of it was wondering whether John would hit the right note without any instrumentation to guide him.

I can get how hearing John rip into that would be pretty cool. But I think a lot if their covers probably worked very well live. Sometimes less so on record.

John had his guitar to help him find the right key to yell "Mr. Moonlight." But he didn't always start the song that way...